In mobile telephone networks, as for example in the GSM network (Global System for Mobile Communication) or in a UMTS network (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), the identity of the subscriber is stored in a chip card, which is often called a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module), inserted in the mobile apparatus. The SIM card is removable so that the user can receive the calls intended for him on the mobile apparatus of his choice by transferring the SIM card from one apparatus to another. Moreover, methods are known for loading the SIM card with a sum of money in various ways, as well as for charging the telephone communication fees to that sum.
The SIM cards exist today in two standardized formats.
The “full-size” format corresponds to the size of a credit card, while the “plug-in” format, which is specially adapted to the miniaturized portable telephones, is about 25 mm×10 mm in size. The functionalities of the cards having these two formats are identical.
The SIM cards generally contain data-processing means, usually a GSM microcontroller integrated in a chip. These processing means contain, on the one hand, a zone having a read-write area and a secured memory area which allows the storing of programs and/or files, especially the identification data of the subscriber who possesses the card, as well as calculating and processing means capable of executing various algorithms, especially algorithms which permit the carrying-out of the subscriber identification and of the communication encryption.
This architecture of the SIM cards is very “open” since various enhanced services (VAS, Value-Added Services) have been considered which can take full advantage of the functionalities of these cards. In particular, numerous services have been considered which use the memory available on the SIM cards and/or the processing possibilities of the microcontroller on the card for expanding the functionalities of the contactless telephones.
New data or new programs which are necessary for carrying out these new value-added services may generally be loaded on the card in one of the following three ways:                1) by inserting the card in a suitable read-write device for chip cards. The data originally loaded, i.e., before the card is delivered to the customer, are generally loaded in this way. Since suitable read-write devices are not available everywhere, this method is applicable only to a limited extent for the update or completion of the information already stored on the card. Moreover, the SIM card must be withdrawn from the mobile apparatus in order to insert it in another device, which is not very practical, especially with the very small “plug-in” cards which are not very practical to handle.        2) by keying in data directly on the keypad of the mobile apparatus. By reason of the greatly reduced size of the keypads normally used for mobile telephones, as well as the limited number of keys, this solution is suitable only for entering very brief data, for example for a password, a sum of money, or an answer of the yes/no type during the running of the program by the microcontroller of the card, but on no account for entering complete programs on the SIM card.        3) The data and/or programs may be downloaded on the mobile apparatus, for example with SMS (Short Message System) or USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) short messages. Patent document EP689368 in the name of the applicant describes technology which makes possible the transmission of data and programs to a mobile apparatus in a transparent manner and in both directions. However, this type of transmission can take place only from another apparatus connected to the mobile radio network, for example from another mobile telephone. Data and programs can also be downloaded as a component of JAVA applets.        
Patent application WO 98/28900 in the name of the applicant describes a method of ordering products or information by means of a mobile station. A code designating the product and its supplier must be entered in the mobile station and is then transmitted to the product supplier together with the subscriber's identification data in the form of short messages over the mobile radio network. The product code must comprise a large number of alphanumerical characters so that the product and the product supplier are unambiguously designated. Moreover, parity characters are necessary in order to recognize or correct possible errors in the product code. None of the above-mentioned loading method proves to be really suitable for entering these codes comfortably in the mobile apparatus.
Conversely, a certain number of new value-added services require that access may be had to the data or programs stored on a SIM card from an outside device, for example from another telephone.
In patent application WO 96/25828, a method and a mobile apparatus are described by means of which various types of applications can be run, one application of a first type being a passive application, while an application of a second type can control the master control unit of the mobile apparatus. The mobile apparatus described in WO 96/25828 comprises, in addition to the master control unit, a user interface, a radio module, an audio module, a feed module, and a connection unit for application modules which are executed as a chip card, which can also contain a SIM module, also a contactless interface, for instance an infrared interface or an inductive interface, via which the mobile apparatus can exchange data, which may in particular also be stored in an application module, with an outside device, for instance another mobile apparatus. The feed part described in WO 96/25828 comprises batteries, the charge status of which is monitored by the feed part, the feed part informing the user of the mobile apparatus when the charge status of the batteries drops below a certain value. If the batteries of the mobile apparatus described in WO 96/25828 are discharged, however, no data transmission via the contactless inteface can be carried out with an outside device.